My Horror House
by Bluu Inkblot
Summary: Kanda, Allen, and Lenalee go on a mission. The location? Kanda's old house, where he grew up before he joined the Order. But things don't go as planned... Story's not very scary. Last Chapter's Up!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! **

**Just a disclaimer: D. Gray-Man doesn't belong to me . T_T**

**Anyway, enjoy ^^**

A soft knock on the door interrupted Kanda's peaceful meditation. The blue-haired swordsman cracked open an eye. There were only two people who would knock softly on his door—the first was Allen Walker, and the second was Lenalee. The Finders were all too scared of him to go within a 3m radius of his door. Kanda sighed, rising from his position on the floor. And after one unfortunate incident where Allen had knocked on his door and Kanda had answered it, in one of his most foul moods, Allen never knocked again. Let's not dive into the gory details.

It must be Lenalee, calling him to go to Komui's office, Kanda decided, and his intuition was right.

"Kanda, nii-san wants to see you!" she announced, sticking her head around the door. Said person nodded, threw on his coat and left with her. The weather had gotten chilly lately and even around the Order, he had to wear his Exorcist's jacket to keep warm.

As they entered Komui's office, Kanda saw a mop of white hair popping from behind the couch. He suppressed the urge to smirk. So Allen was coming on the mission too. He sat on the far end of the couch, Lenalee in the middle, Allen at the other end.

Komui cleared his throat and began to summarize their mission plan, "Lenalee, Allen, Kanda, I'm sending you on a mission to retrieve innocence from Japan, Osaka, and we think it is in the North-South part—" Kanda's eyes widened slightly, and he stiffened, but it went unnoticed. "—it's been destroyed because of Akuma activity but there apparently is just one house standing, absolutely perfect, among the ruins. It looks like it hasn't been hit by the Akumas. The Order suspects that there is Innocence there, protecting it. But be very careful, it's close to Edo where the Earl of Millennium probably has his HQ. You are due to leave in an hour."

Each Exorcist was handed a binder, and taking it, they turned to leave. Kanda stopped at the door.

"Komui Lee." He spat the words out like they were poison.

"Yes?"

"What's the meaning of this?" Kanda turned around, glaring.

"Meaning? Meaning of what?" asked the supervisor, clearly confused.

"You know very well what I'm talking about," Kanda glared at the man. "That… That place! Why send me there?!"

"I dunno… you're one of the Order's best Exorcists?" Komui blinked twice, really confused. "Don't you want to go? I thought you liked missions."

"Yes… I mean no! I mean yes! I mean… argh! Oh, what the hell!" Kanda scowled, storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Komui blinked again.

"Huh?"

-

Kanda sat ramrod straight opposite Allen and Lenalee in the train, staring at the scenery flashing past the train's window. He looked calm on the outside but inside, he was raging.

"Stupid Lenalee, does she absolutely have to come on this mission?! Do I have to come on this mission?! Damn you, Komui; so what if I'm one of the Order's better Exorcists? So what? I thought I had left that cursed place for good! I thought I'd never see it again. But noooo…" Kanda thought, grimacing.

"Kanda? Is there something wrong?" Lenalee asked. Said person had frowned to himself.

"No," came the reply, terse and sharp. _But, god, everything was wrong! Firstly, he did not want to go back to that… that place again. Secondly, he did not want Lenalee coming on this mission, bugging him. Thirdly, he especially did not want Lenalee in this train carriage, sitting next to HIS precious Moyashi! …wait. No. no, no, no, scrap that. He would not—and definitely would NEVER—admit that he loved the white-haired boy!!!_

Hours later, the train pulled to a halt, and the Exorcists and the Finder accompanying them continued on foot to their destination. True enough, the land was so flat, everything burnt to the ground, and they could see the house they were supposed to go to, sticking up like sore thumb.

Kanda gulped. Nobody noticed.

He started making his way to the house, slowly, mechanically, Allen and Lenalee chatting away behind him. It was pissing him off! He stopped a few metres away from the house, glaring at it with all his might. As if it would make it go away, though.

"Kanda? Are you okay? You're frozen on the spot! Kanda?! KANDA?!" Allen was practically screaming into the swordsman's ear, but to Kanda, his voice seemed so far away.

The house Kanda had grown up in, all ten years of his life before he was taken to the Order, now stood in front of him, in all its wooden glory.

-

The house was made entirely from wood—it was from a fishing village. The sea was not far away, and the air around them was humid and thick with ash and smoke. Kanda could not believe his eyes. The house he'd grown up in all his childhood years was right in front of him (nobody but him knew that). The bittersweet memories came to him in a rush, clouding his other thoughts, making his head pound and throb.

"ARGH! IT'S GIVING ME A HEADACHE!!!" Kanda hollered, reaching for Mugen for comfort.

"AHHH!!" Allen sprung backwards, shocked by Kanda's sudden response. He had been shouting into Kanda's ear, literally. But since Kanda didn't seem to know or acknowledge that, Allen decided to keep it a secret. He treasured his life more than Kanda's hearing abilities. By then, the Finder had backed away to a safe distance (he is a very quiet Finder, huh) .

Lenalee rolled her eyes, pushing open the front door, "You know what? Let's just go iiiii—"

"LENALEE!"

Lenalee had just stepped, and fallen, into what appeared to be a bottomless, floorless house. The door swung shut after her, and then a creepy silence ensued. Kanda and Allen exchanged looks.

"Should we go after her?"

"Hell, yes."

Allen, being the martyr with his masochistic complex, decided to go first. Swinging the door open in a very hero-ish manner, he took a giant leap in…

"OW!"

…and landed with both his feet on a hard wooden floor, pain shooting up his nerves. Kanda sighed, walking in normally, the Finder entering after him.

"You know, I thought that there wasn't a floor when Lenalee went in… so why is there one now?" Kanda frowned.

"That's what I was thinking, Kanda… Ow, my foot. OW."

"Oh shut up, Moyashi, we should go find Lenalee."

Kanda stalked past the boy, without even sparing so much as a sympathetic glance. Said person pouted (in a very cute way, but Kanda would never admit that), and started going after Kanda. For safety reasons, the trio decided to go together, looking for any clues as to where Lenalee could have disappeared to. The house was not exactly the same as what Kanda remembered it to be—then again, it had been almost a decade since he'd last saw it. For example, there was that rope-like chain thingy in the corner; he didn't remember it being in the house.

"Hey, what's this rope-like chain thingy in the corner?" Allen asked, tugging at it. "Gosh, it's rusty."

Allen tugged hard, with all his might. With a creak and a bang the chain was tugged down, much like a toilet flush. But when Allen turned around to talk to Kanda, Kanda was nowhere to be seen. Instead, where Kanda used to be standing, was a wooden panel sliding back quietly into its place to conceal a large hole.

He stared at the rusty chain which had broken off, lying on the floor like a brown snake. Now, what was he supposed to do?

-

"Allen-san, there's a girl… over there, in the room," the Finder said quietly, pointing to a doorway. "Maybe she can help find Kanda-san and Lenalee-san."

"Yeah…" Allen nodded, dazed. _Don't remember that there was a girl in the house when we explored it though… maybe she was hiding? Also, why was there a floor, when I came in? I clearly saw that there was no floor! But if the girl lives here, then she can help…_

The duo walked into the room, and there was the little girl, reaching out of the window, straining to get something. She heard the footsteps and turned around, her black eyes meeting Allen's. He gasped. She was in almost every way the same as Kanda—in her physical appearance that is, except that she was female and very young, about 6 or 7 years old. But she did look a lot like what Allen would have imagined Kanda to be when he was young, except that this girl was more feminine looking. What was so striking between Kanda and her was that they had the same piercing eyes that seemed to capture every movement they made, and the same straight hair that hung down neatly, her fringe nearly covering her eyes. She had an extremely pale face, a sharp contrast with her blood-red lips. She was garbed in a plain white dress without frills or anything.

The girl blinked, her large eyes taking in their appearance. Then she stepped aside, and asking in a quiet voice, "Can you help me get my ball back, please? It's outside. The window's slid up but I can't get the ball."

The Finder nodded, went to the window and looked outside: "It's not there."

The girl shook her head, "You have to lean out. It's just below the window ledge."

The Finder nodded, and then did as she said. Allen tilted his head to the left, and as he did, he saw some metallic part of the window glinting in the sunlight.

_Wait… metallic part? The window slides up… the Finder's head is out of the window… the metallic part… the metallic part… the metal—_

"GET BACK IN HERE!" Allen cried out, but his warning came one second too late. The window came slamming down, metallic part first, and closed with a sickening thud. Allen gulped, paling. This mission was going to be a nightmare. He turned to look at the girl, who was backing out from the room. Her face was just as pale as when they'd first saw her, but there was an unreadable expression in her eyes. Suddenly, she turned and ran.

"Hey, wait!" Allen called, turning to run after her.

But when he had gone out of the room, the little girl had already disappeared.

**Mwahaha it's a cliffy ;D**

**Oh well, please review! Reviews will be really greatly appreciated. Thank you! ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again! :D**

**I know I take very long to update… BLAME MY SCHOOL! So many tests… It's like, exam MONTH. D: So I think I can only update weekly…**

**Well anyways, please enjoy ^^ Read in the dark with the lights on! (haha that doesn't make sense)**

---

"_Hey, wait!" Allen called, turning to run after her._

_But when he had gone out of the room, the little girl had already disappeared._

---

"That's strange," Allen mused aloud. "How can one little girl run so fast?"

He lay down, pressing his ear to the floor, listening for Kanda's and Lenalee's movements. Nothing. Allen began to worry that Kanda and Lenalee had suffered the same fate as the Finder. But they were Exorcists! Surely they could land properly! But that also depended on the floor.

_What if it's sharp spikes? What then?_

Allen dared not think of the consequences if the floor Lenalee and Kanda was going to land on was made of sharp spikes. Lenalee could probably avoid it with her dark boots, but how much stamina did she have to keep jumping off the walls to avoid reaching the floor? And Kanda… he would drop like a rock to his untimely demise.

Allen shuddered. It had better not be sharp spikes.

---

THUMP.

Lenalee landed on a soft mud-and-hay floor, disoriented, dizzy, but otherwise fine.

_Where am I? It's so dark! I can't even see anything… I must be very far from the top of the house._

"Allen? Kanda? You guys should come in!"

Silence.

"Guys?"

Silence.

Lenalee frowned. She activated her Dark Boots, leaping up. She had dropped a long way down, so she decided to accelerate upwards quickly… and hit her head, hard, against a solid ceiling.

"Ow…" she mumbled. "Ceiling? Wasn't this house hollow?"

Her hands found some hooks on the ceiling, which she grabbed onto and screamed for help. Yet, there was no answer again. That's when she became conscious of the sticky stuff on the hooks. There was a thin shaft of light shining through some loose grains of sand and soil. Stretching her hand out to the sliver of light, she saw what the liquid that stained her hand was.

It was red, slimy, and thick. Only one thing was like that. But it was fresh… And if it was not _her_ blood, then… _whose_ was it?

---

Once Kanda landed, quite gracefully in fact, he heard a muffled scream pierce the air. Judging by the sound, it must've been a really loud scream, if not for the thick floor muffling it. He paused, thinking, then moved towards the sound cautiously. It was pitch-dark there too.

_Damn that baka Moyashi! _He cursed. _If not for his stupid action, I'd still be fine. _

Plink. Plink. Pink. Stadium lights switched on one after another, flooding Kanda's vision with blinding white light. Instinctively, he raised his arm to shield himself from the glare. Around him, the walls were made of metal-plated concrete. He frowned. _Was there no route of escape?_

Plink. Plink. Plink. The bright lights revealed a long, empty hallway with the thickest, blackest carpet Kanda had ever seen.

"Oh great," the swordsman rolled his eyes. "I bet the carpet's covering some traps."

He sighed. All the missions he got were pretty much clichéd.

The corridor was rather wide. Just to be safe, he leapt from the bases of the light-stands, and made it across effortlessly. But when he stepped on the last stand, he seemed to have activated something. He heard the unmistakable _clang_ of a metal grille behind him. But then, he was in mid-leap, and when he reached the other end of the corridor and looked back, the grille had shut completely. He had only one direction to go—forward.

In front of him was a door, padded with soft velvet, outlined in gold. Strange. Kanda didn't remember his house having such a feature. Nonetheless, he pushed open the door carefully, suspicious of everything.

Stepping in, Kanda entered a beautiful room. The carpet underfoot was deep red and soft, and the wall was pure white. There was a four-poster, King-sized bed in the corner, with sheets matching the color of the wall. A mahogany cupboard stood next to the bed. There was a small round table in the middle of the room, in front of a chair that was fit for a king to sit on. That's when Kanda noticed the small figure seated on the chair.

"Welcome home," said the small child, a smile tugging at her lips.

Kanda' eyes widened: "Imouto-chan? **(Transl: Younger sister?)**"

The girl smiled wider, twirling a strand of dark hair around her index finger. Her legs weren't even long enough to touch the floor. She was wearing a plain white dress.

"You… You're only three years younger than me… so how are you still a kid?!" Kanda frowned.

His sister laughed, got off the chair, and tugged on Kanda's sleeve, walking him further into the room.

"During the year when the Akuma attacked us, you left for the Order, right?"

Kanda nodded. His sister looked up into his eyes, expression suddenly serious.

"Mother died of heartbreak shortly after. You were her only son! Father was very angry with you. He didn't support your decision. Having lost his wife and son, he too, died soon after. And I was left alone… I kept thinking that you'd come back someday, so I didn't sell the house. I didn't have money then, I was only six," she laughed bitterly. "I died a month from my seventh birthday, still clinging on to the hope that you'd come back. Now that you're back… stay here forever."

Kanda felt a painful lump at his throat. He couldn't, and didn't know what to say. All these years he was at the Order, and he'd left his family behind, just for them to die one by one. Especially his sister… he treasured his sister more than anyone (but maybe on par with the Moyashi).

"Stay," said the little girl, smiling.

But to Kanda, her voice was so far away. He felt sleepy, oh-so-sleepy—he was too lost in thoughts to realize that his sister had stood atop the chair and pressed a chloroform-soaked cloth to his nose. Gently, the little girl led him to the bed and watched him fall asleep.

She smiled contentedly. What now? Oh yes, get rid of the other intruders in the house.

---

Lenalee found an escape hatch. That's right. After kicking the ceiling a few thousand times just to discover that Innocence had no effect on the destruction of the ceiling, she found a handle she could pull. Climbing through, she found herself facing a shifting corridor. It was a long, empty hallway with a black carpet, with a metal grille separating a door at the end of the hallway from her.

Oddly, the hallway was shifting its form.

Sections of wall slid in and out, changing the shape of the hallway. The floor slid back, creating a sound similar to the collapse of a building. (One floor above: "Oh shit! Is this an earthquake?!" cried Allen.) The floor was vibrating violently. After a lot of tremors and shifting about, the entire hallway was changed. The velvet-and-gold door was hidden out of view, and instead, the hallway was shortened and let to a control panel of buttons.

"Hmm… wonder what this does," Lenalee mused, walking over to it.

She randomly pressed a rather appealing green button.

Nothing happened.

Blue button?

Nothing.

"Maybe it's a combination kind of thing… Ooh, I like buttons…" Lenalee thought, pressing more buttons…

---

One level up, Allen was busy avoiding spikes.

"What on earth is going on?!" he gasped, doing some odd form of a tap dance on the floor. "Someone must be pressing some buttons to activate this!"

"If this doesn't stop, I'm going to be pierced!!!"

---

**Okay, so I have this odd habit of putting bad cliffies at the end of a chapter… Sorry **

**Anyway, do tell me if it's irritating! And also, please review! Thank you! ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Let's just skip straight to the story :D **

**Pls review! Thanks ^^**

---

_One level up, Allen was busy avoiding spikes._

"_What on earth is going on?!" he gasped, doing some odd form of a tap dance on the floor. "Someone must be pressing some buttons to activate this!"_

"_If this doesn't stop, I'm going to be pierced!!!"_

---

One level below, Lenalee was… well… enjoying herself pressing buttons. Of course she didn't know about Allen's sticky situation. She only stopped pressing when she felt a presence behind her back.

"Who is it?" she asked, turning around.

It was a little girl garbed in white, who did not smile or say anything.

"Hey there, what's your name?" Lenalee smiled, walking over to her.

"Shizu," she said, hesitantly.

"Do you live here? Can you help me find my two friends?" Lenalee asked, hopeful.

"Only one," Shizu said. "But here's the deal: you've got to leave right after that."

Tears started forming in Lenalee's eyes. "B-but they're like… family! I won't leave them behind!"

Shizu was silent for a moment; contemplating, plotting.

"Then… wait here. I'll get them for you."

Lenalee started blubbering again, "I'm scared! I don't want to be left alone!"

Shizu sighed. _What an irritating prick._

"Go count to ten or something, Lenalee."

Lenalee sniffled, sitting down and closing her eyes, and began counting. It never occurred to her that Shizu somehow knew her name even though she'd never told her.

---

Upstairs, a certain white-haired British boy was really relieved that the spikes had stopped. He was panting, a half-crazed expression carved onto his delicate face. He rubbed his eyes and the perspiration from his forehead. And then he saw the girl.

_Wait a minute! Wasn't this girl here when the finder died? _Allen thought, blinking. _Hmm, maybe she just ran to hide?_

"Don't be scared, everything's fine now," Allen nodded, trying to comfort her.

The girl smiled—Kanda would have seen it as a smile that said _"You're the one who should be scared"_, but Allen being Allen, thought the girl smiled in response to his sentence.

"Well, you live here, right? Is there some way to go down to the basement of this house? I believe my blue-haired friend somehow got to the basement and I don't know how to get there myself," said Allen.

_Friend? Nii-san's HIS friend?! _Shizu's eyes narrowed slightly. It went unnoticed by Allen.

"There's a passageway here. It was built for the war. Leads to the basement. By the way, my name's Shizu," Shizu explained, opening a cupboard and removing the back panel. Indeed, there was a dark stairwell.

Shizu climbed in, and motioned for Allen to follow. And Allen being Allen again (of course—can he possibly be someone else?!), followed without any hint of suspicion. Yes, _without any hint of suspicion_, despite the stairwell looking like something out of a clichéd book filled with axe-murderers and other scary beings.

---

"Gosh, it's really dark in here… aren't there any lights?" Allen frowned.

It felt like they'd reached the basement. Allen's eyes were not yet accustomed to the choking darkness. It was like he'd gone blind.

"Stand right there. I know the way around here. I'll go turn on the lights," said Shizu.

CLANG.

_Funny,_ Allen thought. _Lights don't sound like that…_

"Hey, Shizu!" the British boy called, then walked a step forward.

BONK.

"Oww," he whimpered.

He felt around him, and began to panic. Metal bars? Poles? They were surrounding him! But… why?!

"Shizu?" Allen tried again, desperation prominent in his voice.

A faint scratching noise; and the room was illuminated by the match Shizu was holding. Allen looked around him. His heart sank. He was trapped in a cage, much like one of a giant birdcage.

"What's this…?" Allen whispered, heart pounding so fast he was sure it would slam itself against his ribcage so hard he'd die.

The flame danced, illuminating the twisted smile on Shizu's face, and then it went out, and all was dark again.

---

_I'm trapped_, Allen thought sadly. _I'm trapped._

The poor white-haired boy had activated Crown Clown in a bid to get out—but the lock on the cage refused to be picked from his angle inside the cage, and the metal the cage was made of was certainly strong enough to withstand being broken.

Odd. Crown Clown could rip through anything!

Allen sighed, defeated. Only now were his eyes getting accustomed to the dark. He checked his surroundings. Not that he could see clearly, though—things a metre or two away appeared as vague, fuzzy objects to him.

"Hello?" Allen called, listening carefully to the echo.

From what it seemed to be, the room was pretty large. And very dark, too. How ironic—a tiny cage in a large room. Perhaps it was to spite him; so much space, and yet so little space to move around. It wasn't even big enough for him to lie down.

_I knew it, _Allen screamed mentally. _I knew that girl couldn't be trusted! I bet she caused the Finder's death! I bet she's going to kill us! I—_

Allen stiffened and strained his ears. Wait. Wait. What was that noise? Rustling… It sounded like rustling… And… and creaking…

_Rustling and creaking?! Oh gods, what on earth is it?! Am I supposed to be its prey?!_ Allen was freaking out. His eyes were so wide that they hurt and he was trembling. His breathe had caught in his throat and had frozen over. He stood there, blood singing in his ears.

Allen heard The Thing's footsteps shuffling along the concrete floor. It sounded sluggish—and then came a tired sigh, and an odd grunt.

Allen had completely stopped breathing.

A thump resonated through the room, making Allen's heart skip a beat. Every muscle in his body was tensed. He was so high-strung that he would die of a heart attack if anyone were to tap him on the shoulder.

The Thing was quiet now.

_Must be thinking of ways to eat me,_ Allen shuddered. He suddenly felt sorry for the food he ate. They must've felt that way too.

Allen heard a gulping sound—The Thing was drinking something. _Must be blood, _he shivered.

More footsteps ensued, and they were getting louder. It was getting nearer to Allen…

Allen could hear its heavy breathing. _Oh god oh god oh god oh god, help!!!_ With each passing second his heartbeat became more and more erratic.

One more step; Allen could imagine The Thing reaching out a hand to grab him…

"Aaargh! Nooooooooooooooooooooo!" Allen screamed a high-pitched, deafening scream.

---

And there Allen was, screaming his head off, completely failing to notice The Thing roaring at him. Well, not until The Thing clamped a hand over his mouth and barked at him to "stop screaming like a whiny teenaged girl whose parents refuse to take her to the mall".

And then Allen stopped screaming.

Not because The Thing ordered him to, but because he heard the voice. It was all too familiar…

"K-Kanda?" he whispered.

"Yeah it's me. Who else can it be?" he sneered.

Allen felt a surge of warmth in his heart. No matter what, Kanda was always the same. It was nice to know that.

"Can you pick the lock for me, Kanda? I can't do it from the inside."

"Tch. Baka Moyashi!"

Despite his situation, Allen laughed. He heard some clinking noise of metal upon metal, and knew that Kanda must be picking the lock with Mugen. A final click and the door was opened.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Allen bounded out of the confinement, all smiles, hugging his surprised savior gratefully.

_Oh gods, Kanda is so warm,_ Allen smiled, hugging him a little longer. _Who knew he was so cuddly!_

Oddly, the usually stoic and cold swordsman did not move away. Allen looked up, questioningly. He could roughly see the outlines and contours of Kanda's face. He was facing away. Allen smiled. He was quite sure the "stoic" swordsman was blushing.

With whatever shred of dignity he had left, Kanda gently released Allen from the hug, clearing his throat. Allen did likewise and he felt his face heating up.

"So, uh… what do you want to do? We're trapped," Allen broke the uncomfortable silence.

"What else is there to do, baka Moyashi? Tch. I wish you'd use your brains," Kanda scoffed. "Well excuse me; I forgot you have no brains."

"Hey! My name's Allen—" Allen protested, just to have Kanda ruffle his hair and smirk (except he couldn't see the smirk).

"C'mon, Moyashi, we'll wait until Shizu gets back, then we'll lock her up in this room, get Lenalee and escape."

---

**Well that's it ( I mean, for this chapter; it's not the end of the story XD ). I hope it wasn't too crappy, cuz I had to rush writing this since it's like… exam month, and each test is a week apart. And I am supposed to be studying now, but who cares?! xD**

**Personally I think this chapter sucks. D:**

**Please review!!! And if you agree that it sucks, please tell me! So I can have an estimate of how I should improve for the next chapter. Thank you! ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Whoops, sorry if this update is late… I was having a bit of a writer's block. (haha I made it sound like flu xD )**

**Anyways, do read and review! **

---

"_So, uh… what do you want to do? We're trapped," Allen broke the uncomfortable silence._

"_What else is there to do, baka Moyashi? Tch. I wish you'd use your brains," Kanda scoffed. "Well excuse me; I forgot you have no brains."_

"_Hey! My name's Allen—" Allen protested, just to have Kanda ruffle his hair and smirk (except he couldn't see the smirk)._

"_C'mon, Moyashi, we'll wait until Shizu gets back, then we'll lock her up in this room, get Lenalee and escape."_

---

So there they were, waiting in the dark, waiting for the little girl with the dark hair to get back just so they could escape. It was ridiculous, really, two _guys_, _Exorcists_, in fact, waiting for some female years younger than them to come.

But that was the truth.

And that was pissing off an already annoyed swordsman, who was right now, grumbling incessantly.

"Oh just shut the hell up and help me find the light switch," Allen growled from across the room. "Does this room have one?"

"Yes."

Sighing, Kanda got up and pulled a lever behind him. Vertical panels of lights on the wall lit up with a faint humming sound. The panels covering them were red, and hence cast an eerie red light in the room.

Kanda shot a smug look at Allen. _Idiot Moyashi._

"Well fine! You should have turned it on earlier. I scraped my shoulder on the wall shuffling around! And it's all thanks to you!" Allen growled, moving back to where they were waiting.

"Che, you're welcome," Kanda replied, punching Allen on the shoulder.

"OW!"

---

_Lenalee sniffled, sitting down and closing her eyes, and began counting. It never occurred to her that Shizu somehow knew her name even though she'd never told her.__ (From last chapter)_

"… Nine… Ten…" Lenalee looked up. Shizu was standing there, a blank expression on her face.

Lenalee smiled happily and got up.

"My, you're fast," said Lenalee. "Well, where are my comrades?"

"They're waiting for you," Shizu smiled. _Yeah, waiting for you to rescue them—if it's even possible, bimbo._

Lenalee nodded and asked if she could take her to them.

Shizu grinned. _She is so much fun. And so trusting. _

---

Shizu brought Lenalee up to the first storey using a staircase cleverly hidden under the rug. It was concealed under a heavy, flat, trapdoor. It went down first, then upwards.

"Haha, this is so clichéd! Why's the staircase here?" Lenalee laughed.

"Because it's the best hiding place for a stairwell used for hiding ourselves during the war," Shizu explained. _Seems like she's the only one that can piss me off, I wish she'll just shut up!_

It seemed that Lenalee got a clue as she decided not to ask Shizu anymore questions. Obediently, she followed Shizu upstairs, trusting that Shizu lived in the house and was willing to help her—well, she was right about the first part, but wrong about the second.

And it was precisely because she was wrong about the second point that she found herself tied up and suspended from the ceiling by some rope the minute she stepped onto the first floor.

The poor Exorcist only had time to glance at Shizu, with not enough time for even a yelp before something hard and blunt slammed into the back of her head and knocked her out cold.

Shizu stared.

A twisted grin started to spread on her face.

"Oooops…"

---

"Kanda… what're we waiting for again?" Allen yawned, thoroughly bored.

The long-haired swordsman sighed.

"We… are… waiting… for that girl to come and open the fucking door!" Kanda hollered, last bit of patience disappearing.

As if proving his point, the sour swordsman kicked the door hard. Allen pouted, rolling over on the bed.

"Shaaa-dup," he yawned again. Gods, he was so sleepy.

"Oi, idiot Moyashi! Don't you dare fall asleep! I swear I'll slice you up with Mugen if you do!"

"'s Allen…"

Yawn.

"What the hell?!"

"OW!"

Allen rubbed the sore spot on his head, glaring at Kanda, who was not looking at him at all. In fact, he was looking up with some sort of an incredulous expression on his face, except that it wasn't all that obvious. Don't ask why Allen could see the difference in Kanda's expression, but he could, anyway, and looked up as well.

The room they were in was very long, vertically, and Allen squinted to see what Kanda was seeing. Red light danced in Allen's vision, but slowly, he saw what was being lowered down into their room.

Tied up, dangling on a rope, unconscious, Lenalee was lowered like a cocoon into the room, where she swung in little oscillations precariously. If the rope were to break, she would plummet to her death.

"Oh. My. God," Allen breathed.

---

The door creaked open, the closed with a soft thud. Shizu walked into the room, looking up at Lenalee. She smiled. She liked chandeliers.

Both Exorcists turned to look at her, eyes burning with fury. They still couldn't escape. Had it not been for Lenalee, which Shizu used to trick them into looking away from the door, they could've gotten out already. The girl had it planned out meticulously.

Shizu laughed; a cold, sadistic laugh.

"If nii-san stays, the girl won't be hurt. And you won't be hurt either, Allen. But if nii-san goes, then…" Shizu pulled out a sharp piece of metal from her pocket, fingering it carefully. Then with a sudden movement, she tossed it into the air, like a Frisbee.

It twirled through the air, and then hit the rope Lenalee's life depended on.

There was a sickening snapping noise, as a few strands fibres on the rope were cut loose. Lenalee jerked downwards, still in an unconscious state, unaware of the peril she was in.

Allen gasped and Kanda narrowed his eyes.

And it dawned on Allen that Shizu was Kanda's sister. Then… if that was so… why could Kanda stop her? Was she an… Akuma? …But wait, if she was indeed one, then Allen's left eye would have picked it up.

"Kanda, do something about it," Allen hissed softly. "She's your _younger_ sister!"

"It's not so easy, idiot! I don't know what powers she has. There's Innocence in this house, remember? If you don't know, yet, baka Moyashi, she's dead already," Kanda threw back.

"It's Allen, BaKanda!" Allen replied, but his mind was in a mess now. _Is Shizu a ghost, then? But I could touch her just now! But… Well… Kanda IS right. I don't know what powers she has._

Allen's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a metal being unsheathed. Mugen.

"You're going to fight her?" Allen gasped. "I thought you said she could be dangerous!"

"We won't know if we don't try, baka!" Kanda retorted.

"Then I'm joining you."

"No! It's my family member, so it's my business. Don't interfere!" barked Kanda.

And Allen wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but Kanda's voice seemed to be laced with a twinge of sadness and guilt.

But if Kanda insisted him not interfering, then it was the only thing Allen could do for him. Not that Allen obeyed orders from him, but it was his family stuff, after all.

So Allen stepped back, leaning against the wall, watching the duo brace themselves for a fight. It was sad, watching siblings fighting each other and being unable to help settle the dispute—Shizu wanted Kanda to stay, and make Allen and Lenalee leave. Unfortunately, the only way she could get Kanda to stay was if he was no longer human, but a spirit, like her, and the only way to do that was to kill him here. And Kanda; Kanda wanted… he wanted…

Allen didn't know what Kanda wanted. What was he fighting for? Their freedom? Then what about his sister? Surely he loved his sister… he wasn't as willing to fight like when he fought Akuma, or the Noahs.

Allen couldn't understand what Kanda wanted from this fight.

But as he watched Kanda draw Mugen, he knew that Kanda would get what he wanted, in the end, no matter if he won or lost the battle. After all, that was his personality, achieving what he had in mind.

_But please… please,__ Kanda, just don't die…_

---

**Cliffy! (Again…)**

**Sometimes I wonder what'll happen if I just decide to end the fic on a cliffy. Isn't that fun! Like I could end it here, for instance. ;3 What would you say to that? :D**

**But not really, I still have stuff I'd like to write ^^ **

**I hope I'm not being long winded like those awful dramas that I hate. Oh, ick. But do tell me if I'm being long-winded! The more I write the more I feel like I'm just dragging out the fic. D:**

**Remember! The review button likes being pressed! And I know you like typing! So go on and review, please! ^^**


	5. The Final Blow

**Wah! Sorry I took quite long to update. Projects and Yullen Week things (even though I didn't write for every day)…**

**Anyway, if you somehow find yourself reading this, do read on…**

**---**

_Allen couldn't understand what Kanda wanted from this fight._

_But as he watched Kanda draw Mugen, he knew that Kanda would get what he wanted, in the end, no matter if he won or lost the battle. After all, that was his personality, achieving what he had in mind._

_But please… please, Kanda, just don't die…_

---

It was sad. No, it was more tragic than sad.

Allen couldn't understand—how could siblings fight each other? It wasn't some kind of friendly sibling fight either; it was a fight to the death. And it was tragic in the way that had Kanda not been sent on this mission, he would not have to fight his own (albeit dead) younger sister.

Each metallic clash of weapon against weapon made Allen flinch. Kanda narrowly missed being sliced across the neck as he threw Shizu across the room, where she crashed heavily into the wall, and Allen heard the sickening crack of bones. Being a spirit, Shizu smirked, popping her bones back into place. It was like watching someone who'd committed suicide by jumping from a tall building snap his dislocated bones back into place. Ugh. Not a pretty sight.

Allen watched the intensifying fight, all the time keeping an eye on Lenalee, who was suspended from the ceiling like a drop of water. And what happened to drops of water? That's right—they eventually drop and splash, splattering into a million tiny drips.

Oh dear.

_Think, Allen, think! _ The British boy shook his head vigorously._ Where can the Innocence be? I can't just be standing around like an extra accessory when Kanda's fighting for his life. …Not that Lenalee's helping much, though. _ _Well alright, let's think logically._

Allen frowned, concentrating.

_It can't be so hard to find. It's got to be somewhere in this room—I mean, this is the main room, isn't it? Would it be in one of the objects in the room? And__ if it is, then…_

Allen smacked his forehead. Gods, he had been so stupid all the while! It was there, right before his eyes, with a clue more obvious than the shining sun. Shizu had asked for the late Finder to help fetch her ball when they first met. And right in the middle of this room was the rather beautiful chair; on the ends of each hand rest were white spheres, seeming to glow eerily in the red light.

Wasn't it obvious?!

Problem was, Allen didn't know which contained the Innocence—he'd have to smash both to find out.

The following sequence of events happened so fast, nobody was sure how to write it in the after-mission report afterwards:

Allen smashed the first ball open; it was empty. But Shizu heard the sound, and immediately changed target to kill Allen first. Kanda, realizing the situation, gave chase to Shizu, Mugen drawn back for the final attack.

At the same time when Shizu turned to attack Allen, he'd smashed the second ball, the one which contained the Innocence. To end it all, he had to pull the shiny glowing thing out.

Allen's hand closed around the Innocence, a determined look etched on his face.

Shizu gained on Allen, knife inches from his jugular, ready for the plunge.

Mugen was going to be rammed into Shizu's heart in milliseconds.

In three… two… one…

---

Innocence crystals felt cool, not like ice, but somewhat like a cold pack. They glowed very prettily. Maybe they were magic.

Allen always liked magic. He'd always wanted Mana to teach him to do tricks before; Mana knew a few. Yet Mana died before he could teach Allen anything, and it made Allen sad.

Allen unclenched his loosely held fist, Innocence glowing steadily in the middle of his palm.

"Look, Kanda, magic!" He smiled happily, showing said Exorcist the Innocence crystal.

Kanda nodded, ruffling Allen's hair. Allen would always be his precious Moyashi, no matter how idiotic he was. He let his hand slide down to touch Allen on the side of his neck, the place where Shizu's dagger almost stabbed.

Kanda's hand was warm, and Allen smiled, contented. It was a happy ending to a hell of a mission.

No.

No, it wasn't.

It was just Allen's daydream.

Daydreams never come true.

But Allen's neck felt warm, very warm. His heart was still beating, and he could hear the blood singing in his ears. Allen wanted to stay in that daydream forever, where he was comfortable, warm, and happy.

And he lay on the floor, in a pool of blood, drifting in an out of consciousness. The ball with the Innocence still inside it lay just out of reach, in front of him, taunting him. But it didn't matter if the ball was in or out of reach, Allen couldn't move his arm anyway.

The white haired boy closed his eyes, strangely peaceful, ready to join his imagination, his daydream—forever.

---

One hour.

Kanda estimated again, and still got the same results. Only one pathetic hour. With all his years of experience he could accurately estimate the amount of time left for people to live or die.

Allen Walker had one hour left to live, if he didn't make it to a hospital in time.

Kanda swore mentally, gritting his teeth. The nearest hospital was 50 minutes away, if he sprinted. It left him with only 10 minutes to get this battle over and done with.

Kanda didn't know what had gone wrong just now. By some stroke of luck (probably), Shizu had managed to avoid Mugen and plunged the dagger into Allen's throat. But because of the change in her angle and positioning, she missed his jugular and plunged it into the flesh next to it. Judging by the amount of blood and the way it spurted out, it couldn't have cut through Allen's throat or windpipe. Thank god.

Still, only an hour left.

Kanda growled, lunging at Shizu again, more power in his attacks now that Allen was in critical condition. He knew Shizu was stalling for time. All she needed was to keep Kanda away from the Innocence for an hour.

_Why can't you just give your brother what he wants! _ Kanda felt like shouting that at Shizu, but then restrained himself. In the first place, it was he who did not take care of her when they were young. In the second place, he was trying to kill her. Oh well.

Now Kanda had just five minutes left to end the fight.

Four minutes.

Three minutes.

Two minutes…

"Damn it!" he roared, never been so anxious all his life. The thought that his Moyashi was going to die within two minutes propelled his anger further. With a final burst of speed, Kanda lunged at Shizu; and finally, he was fast enough to pin her against the wall and make her drop her weapon.

Kanda smirked, exhausted, but glad that Mugen was now pointed at Shizu's throat.

"Nii-san…" Shizu whispered.

Kanda swallowed, a pang of guilt hitting him once again. It felt so odd, having someone acknowledge him as a brother. But then he remembered that the person who acknowledged him nearly killed his very-precious, irreplaceable Moyashi, and the anger returned once more.

"Are you going to kill me? Like you did a long time ago?" Shizu murmured again.

"Yes. I'm sorry," Kanda said quietly. But it had to be done.

Kanda watched as his own hand pushed Mugen into his sister's throat, making her endure another painful death. He watched the tears that slid down her face, her small mouth still upturned in a smile.

_Here's the person who nearly killed Allen, _Kanda thought. _Here's the person, she's my sister._

Under his hands, Shizu's body crumpled, disintegrating into nothingness—she was a spirit, after all. Her white dress floated to the floor, like a falling leaf, dead.

"Rest in peace," Kanda sighed.

He crossed over to the Innocence in two steps, the plucked it out from the ball. Where he was standing now was below ground level. But when the Innocence was out, it elevated, turning back into a normal wooden house.

Lenalee chose to wake up at that time.

"What's… what's going on?" She asked, speech slightly slurred as she had just awoken.

"You fell asleep while we were fighting. That's what happened," Kanda answered, picking Allen up bridal style.

As soon as the Exorcists exited the house, it collapsed, turning into nothing but a pile of debris, similar to the houses next to it, which had been destroyed by Akumas.

They began sprinting to the nearest hospital right away, desperate for Allen to survive. Kanda couldn't help but turn back and steal a look at the house—or rather, what was left of it.

Shizu's ghost was no longer there.

Kanda allowed himself a small smile. At least he'd given his sister a ticket to heaven. Heck, she couldn't be in hell; Kanda was sure of that, because he had this unexplainable, contented feeling. Somehow, he was never happy. Near happy, but never happy. That was another unexplainable thing.

But right now, he only had one top priority.

Get Allen to the hospital in time so he won't die.

**---**

**Okay… I meant to end the fic here actually. I'****m serious! ._. But then I didn't feel like typing anymore… XD**

**I'll probably have one more chapter (very short one, maybe?) to wrap it up. Or maybe I'll jump straight to the –possible(?)- sequel. I don't know!!! () I haven't even thought of what to write if I do write a sequel, or if I do write another chapter. D: Confused!!! Rah.  
~ Shall leave it as an in-progress fic for now. ~**

**As always: Ignore the Rant, and Please Review! Tyvm! ^^**


	6. The End

**Last chapter! Whee~**

**As promised, this last chapter is updated within one week of the prev. chapter, and it's very short. :]**

**---**

_Kanda allowed himself a small smile. At least he'd given his sister a ticket to heaven. Heck, she couldn't be in hell; Kanda was sure of that, because he had this unexplainable, contented feeling. Somehow, he was never happy. Near happy, but never happy. That was another unexplainable thing._

_But right now, he only had one top priority._

_Get Allen to the hospital in time so he won't die._

---

It was the early hours of the morning—about 3am, and Kanda Yuu was still awake.

He sat on one of the sofa seats next to Allen's hospital bed. This was the third day he was here. The first day was hell, because Lenalee was here with him. She did all the things he hated—cried, complained, apologized repeatedly (for what, Kanda didn't even know), groaned, and (wait for it!) CLUNG on to him, for goodness' sake. What was he? Some kind of freaking pillow?

Thank god he'd manage to convince her to bring the Innocence back to HQ. Lenalee was now where he'd best wanted her to be—far, far, away.

Kanda looked at the sleeping form on the bed.

_How fitting, _he thought, _white sheets and white hair. Heck, if I squint, I'll probably see only his face._

And, despite himself, Kanda leaned over and kissed his precious Moyashi full on the lips.

---

He was lying in a meadow, full of soft grass, just relaxing.

And then there was a booming voice from the sky that sounded vaguely like: "Oi, baka Moyashi! Wake up already, will you?!" …except it was slurred and unclear. As if the speaker was speaking underwater.

Allen stirred, still in the grassy meadow. He sat up groggily, the soft grass like pillows cushioning him.

"Who… Who… you?" He murmured.

And then there was someone's breath, warm on his face, and then someone was kissing him, really gently.

That's when Allen woke up to a close-up of Kanda's face.

---

Later, much later, Allen would admit that he'd enjoyed the welcome back to consciousness. So much so that he'd completely forgotten to remind Kanda what his name was when he'd called him "Moyashi".

And also, much, much later, Allen would admit that Kanda was an extremely good kisser.

But, for now, he was just glad to have Kanda (without Lenalee, thank you very much) sitting next to him in the little hospital. Kanda refused to tell him how the battle ended, no matter how much he pleaded or begged. According to him, Allen might do something stupid (and Allen protested loudly, to no avail).

A while later, the sun rose over the mountains in the horizon, over the ruins of Kanda's childhood home, and over the ruins of the houses around it.

And in the hospital ward, the two Exorcists sat in silence together, just enjoying each other's presence and the fact that they were still alive.

---

**THE END.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading this fanfic even though it was quite crappy!! You people are the best! ^^**

**I don't think there will be a sequel, haha; because I can't think of anything that will have anything to do with this fic. XD**

**YULLEN FTW!!!**

**+Bluu Inkblot+**


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